Some of Us

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Contest Recap from Judge Amidon

SECOND ANNUAL SMITH’S TAVERN POET LAUREATE CONTEST

The Second Annual is now in the record books, and the books will show that Howard Kogan is the Tavern’s Poet Laureate for 2011, with Marilyn Paarlberg second and Mark “Obeeduid” O’Brien third. Therese Broderick placed fourth and Tom Corrado fifth. No one ran away with the scoring. As with last year, competitors in the top half of the scoring were within a few points of the poet just above them and the one just below them. This comes as no surprise, as everyone who signed up to participate belonged in the contest. No also-ran type poets entered the fray. Another thing that was obvious was the reading talent displayed at the microphone. Every reader did a good job, and most did an excellent job. It was a pleasure to attend this contest and listen.

Now that two of these “Annuals” have been held, a few observations can be made. One is that the format and operation of this event is good, and any tinkering with the rules and procedures should be minimal. This is a well-thought-out contest. Second is that it’s about the right size, both in the length of time it takes and the number of contestants allowed. Third is that it attracts the type of poets the sponsors and hosts want to attract. It is not a contest for flash-in-the-pan poets, or for showboaters whose chief interest is to draw attention to themselves through crude work and onstage antics. Fourth is an observation everyone made last year: Smith’s Tavern is a great place to hold a poetry contest. Why go dry and hungry for poetry when you can drink and eat at the same high level the poems are? It’s a no-brainer.

When a contest flows smooth as glass from beginning to end it’s because the organizers anticipated problems and solved them, then did a good job directing the actual competition. Judges had all the time they needed, and there was no dead time between poets thanks to a steady stream of poetic quotations to guess at from Edie at the microphone. The Second Annual was as good as the first. It has put Smith’s Tavern on the map for poets beyond Voorheesville and Delmar, and has cemented its reputation as the place to meet for local poets.

A Japanese saying is: “If a thing happens twice, it will happen again.” It comes to mind because I hope it comes true at Smith’s Tavern, next April.

6 comments:

Kudos back at you organizers for a well executed formula resulting in a well-paced and successful event. Edie's filler was fun, Georgia's fingers were fast, Dennis was a convivial host, the roadie and photographer were handsome and unobtrusive and the Beach Boy stepped right out of GQ. The food was good and the sponsors were smiling. All a result of your hard work.

whatever happened to a review of last Thursday's meeting of EOTP group? I know that the contest at Smitty's took a lot of prep, but a short review is always expected of our group meetings, or am I wrong again?Dan Lawlor

Thank you ALL for making my day! ...I was in a state of bliss Sunday! Wrapped up in everyone else's voices I almost didn't realize it was my turn at one point! I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day than with my "Poe-peeps" doing what we LOVE! I believe Arthur would be proud!M~

From Therese L. Broderick -- Wow! I got fourth place? I'm surprised, but very pleased, of course! I thought that in my third round, I stumbled over the words "neither be pried away / nor carried from" in the villanelle. I thought points would be taken off my score for that flub. I don't remember hearing any other competing poet flub a line, so I figured that I had sunk my chances! Thank you for the vote of confidence despite the stumbling! I agree that this contest was run exceedingly well in every detail. I've judged three other serious contests, and this tavern contest was run as rigorously as any I've experienced. Thanks for your hard work, everyone, in offering this great community event. See you next year!

I'm probably the first character in a long time to submit a comment to one of my own write-ups, but I wanted to toss out the idea that someone in Voorheesville who goes to the tavern regularly might print off the write-up of the contest (with comments), and also Dan Wilcox's fine article on his blog, and give them to the whole crew at Smith's. Every word of enthusiasm for this event is something that reflects favorably on them as well.

The real us...

Alan Casline is the editor of Benevolent Bird press and the winner of the 19th Annual Day of Poet "Poetry Contest". acasline@aol.com

Art Willis was the creative writing master at the Voorheesville High School. He has lived in Russia and now lives in a wonderful old farmhouse the Quakers built. awillis36@yahoo.com

Barbara is Lily Alys is Olliesmom and Eli's mom and the BlogGoddess. olliesmom2@verizon.net

Beverly Osborne is on the road. beverlyosborne@yahoo.com

Bo seems to be gone again, although with us in spirit. Bo Pedersen Geel, that is, who finally missed us after an absence of years. Don'cha just love her name? bopedersengeel@yahoo.com

Catherine "Ally Cat" Anderson is a world traveler who is busy collecting purple items to adorn herself and her environment. canderson@nycap.rr.com

Catherine Norr is a woman of musical as well as literary talent who hangs out in Schenectady. Visit her own website at catherinenorr.com catherinenorr@msn.com

Dennis Sullivan, aka The Red Menace, is back from Ireland, still drinking Guiness. He plays Santa at Christmas for anyone who believes. dsullivan6@nycap.rr.com

Edie Abrams is a short little old lady with chopsticks in her white hair who enjoys beautiful sunsets and leads a gang of New Scotland thugs. sabrams@nycap.rr.com

Jim Williams is the math guy and a music man. We haven't frightened him off. He must be tough. mathguy@nycap.rr.com

Joyce Schreiber is a writer, a potter and a would-be fiddler. She has traveled with her husband of 39 years, from Iceland to Greece, and almost everywhere between them. She has a cat named Cleo. joices@nycap.rr.com

Kathy McCabe, where are you? katross2@gmail.com

mark obeedude o'brien has long been interested in attempting to see and write about the extraordinary in the ordinary, obviously much harder to do than one might think. obeedude@gmail.com You can also reach him at glebehomie.blogspot.com

Mike Burke is a career vacationer, dividing his time between warm beaches and the home he shares with grandchildren Morgan and Jack. mburke1314@msn.com

Paul Amidon has had an epiphany. phatrees@verizon.net

Philomena Moriarty works with people who have experienced trauma and says that her poetry helps her focus in her work. philmor@nycap.rr.com

Ron Pavoldi traipses through snowbanks to look in windows. Under the pen name R.A.Pavoldi, his poems have published alongside national Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winners. rpavoldi@excelsior.edu